Report: Domestic call led to discovery of marijuana grow house

Deputies responded Monday morning to a domestic call and say Richard Paul Peeler, 48, threatened to kill his girlfriend, Laura Lee Baldwin, 51, when he reportedly held a large hunting knife against her throat, according to a news release from the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office.

Baldwin managed to escape to a neighbor's home and call authorities.

During the investigation it was learned there was a marijuana grow house inside their home.

When deputies arrived, Peeler refused to answer the door. So Baldwin, who was outside, gave deputies a key and permission to enter their Port Charlotte home, the report stated.

Peeler was found in a bedroom, where, deputies noted, he smelled of booze.

Deputies also noticed something else in a spare bedroom: 13 cannabis plants growing in five-gallon buckets, along with a complete grow house system that included grow lights, a de-humidifier, a commercial AC unit, and about 30-feet of duct work, the release stated.

Baldwin allegedly told detectives she had lived in the home for about five months and didn't know about the pot plants insde until that fateful morning.

But a detective debunked Baldwin's story when he reportedly found pics of the marijuana grow operation on her cell phone.

The couple were charged with Cultivation of Marijuana, Possession of Marijuana Over 20-Grams, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Peeler was additionally charged with Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon (knife) and Aggravated Battery Using a Deadly Weapon. Both remain in jail; Peeler on $50,000 bond, and Baldwin on $8500 bond.